I was eight years old when Purple Rain came out, and it didn’t seem strange to me that Prince was from Minnesota. Everyone important, it seemed, was from Minnesota. Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz. Future president (or so we thought) Walter Mondale. Herb Brooks. Why wouldn’t Prince’s purple house be in Chanhassen? Of course, I later learned, it was highly unusual for…

22, A Million is an album that did not come easy for Justin Vernon, the self-described “maker” of the latest work from Bon Iver. When the relentless promotion, touring, and general hoopla surrounding the band’s last album, 2011’s Grammy-winning Bon Iver, Bon Iver, finally died down, Vernon found himself burnt out and paralyzed by anxieties.…

Many aspects of Bon Iver’s new album 22, A Million were discussed in detail at a press conference in downtown Eau Claire on Friday night, but one thing that kept coming up again and again was how many different artists inspired Justin Vernon during the creation of this record. Evidence of those inspirations can literally…

If you live in Minnesota, you might get excited about seeing celebrities. The state is incredible — and more people should visit — but it’s so rare to see someone like Stevie Wonder in town that when he shows up, telling your friends is automatic. This weekend, then, when Minnesota became the celebrity figure in and of…

Now in its second year, Local Current’s DJ in Residence program is an opportunity for The Current to invite local musicians to take over our all-Minnesota music stream and share their favorite stories and music from the local music scene. So far, Local Current’s DJ in Residence roster has included Eric Mayson, Danielle Cusack (Bruise…

Allan Kingdom, “The Ride” Allan Kingdom continues his run of awesome videos from Northern Lights, this time co-directing with Ben Hughes. Qaanaaq, “Solid State” Qaanaaq are one of Gus Watkins’s many projects, and they sound great. Nsikak, “Bodied” Nsikak has a hot track in “Bodied.” It’s short, but it’s forceful, and it’s real: “If you’re going to take a…

Psychologists say that when we lose someone, there are five common stages of grief that we must endure: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. With no public memorial to speak of in the months since Prince’s passing, that fifth stage has been hard to find. Sure, we had that insane block party the evening of…

Tonight, First Avenue is on another level. You can feel it in the air; you can sense it on social media; you can read it on the event poster, which heralds “An Evening With The Revolution: Wendy, Lisa, BrownMark, Dr. Fink & Bobby Z.” Today is the first of three reunion dates for the Revolution, Prince’s…

Is this the future of concert films? A French Metallica fan has combined the live-streamed audio of the band’s Aug. 20 U.S. Bank Stadium show with 77 different fan-shot videos to create a 140-minute concert film of the band’s entire performance. (City Pages) Read Dan Nass’s review of the show, the first rock concert in the…

“Let us grow,” Tufawon chants near the beginning of The Send Off’s “Freedom Seeker,” starting a conversation with the cosmos. His hungry intonation swoops into a stellar verse from Elay, and soon, Tufawon will return to spit bars and shut down the song. But first, he repeats, “Let us grow” — with a “please” this…